CARROLL A. CAMPBELL JR. was born in Greenville, South Carolina. At the age of thirty, he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, where he served for four years. After campaigning unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor in 1974, he was named Executive Assistant to then-Governor James B. Edwards. He went on to serve in the state Senate for two years before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978--the first Republican to represent South Carolina's 4th District in the House since Reconstruction. While in Washington, he earned a master's degree in political science at American University. Campbell remained in Congress until his election as governor in 1986. During his two terms in office, he was known for his coordination of South Carolina's response to Hurricane Hugo and for his role in attracting BMW to build its first U.S. manufacturing facility in the state. While governor, he chaired the Southern Growth Policies Board and the Southern Technology Coucil. He also co-chaired the National Wetlands Policy Forum and was a member of the Anthony Commission on Public Finance. And he chaired the Republican Governors Association, the National Education Goals Panel, and the National Governors Association. Term limits prevented him from seeking a third consecutive gubernatorial term and he went on to become President and Chief Executive Officer of the America Council of Life Insurers. In October, 2001, Campbell wrote an open letter to the people of South Carolina, announcing that he had been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. He died of a heart attack on December 7, 2005 at the age of sixty-five.

Sources:

Governors of the American States, Commonwealths and Territories, National Governors' Association, 1994.